Ktheg!lik watched the alien craft land with awe and jealousy. It hissed something like steam, and made multiple loud clunking sounds as it touched the ground and settled. A wide ramp lowered quickly with a clang, and aliens encased in some kind of armor trotted down in pairs. One of the second pair held something vaguely like a tablet. It held up one arm and made some gestures.

She had been hoping to hear their communications, but apparently they could disguise them or hide them from Petra. The two in the lead moved quickly, weapons (presumably) held in both hands, and one smashed the metal door open with a single kick. The pair burst into the first room of Level 1, where Gua!laga waited, arms raised.

"Hello? Hello! Can you un—?"

That was as far as Gua!laga got before an invader shot him in the leg. He fell, howling in pain, and a strangely-altered voice said something unintelligible. The fuak!a was too distracted by pain to pay it any attention. The voice repeated itself, then shot him again. Silence.

"Gua!laga is dead," Petra reported.

Ktheg!lik released a breath she had been holding. "They killed Gua!laga," she told the others quietly. "Don't hold back. Don't hesitate. They're heading to the stairs."

In moments, the lead invaders had reached Level 2. They spread out in pairs, quickly searching. After they stepped inside different rooms, Petra shut the doors. The invaders turned and pounded on the stone, and for a moment, Ktheg!lik almost laughed at the idea of capturing them so easily. However, it was only a matter of moments before the next group of invaders shot the door controls, then reached in and did something. The doors started opening manually, and soon they had extricated themselves.

There were now eight of them on Level 2, with four on Level 1. At that point, Geh!aoa threw something upstairs from Level 3 and ran. There was a blinding flash and a sound that hurt Ktheg!lik's ears two Levels and a stone door away. More than one fuak!a yelled in pain.

Ktheg!lik saw a few of the invaders reeling, but they soon straightened up and resumed their advance.

A few moments later, another flash-and-bang went off. This one barely made the invaders pause. They have some kind of protection, now that they know to use it.

She shouted, "Geh!aoa, don't use those! They hurt us more than they hurt the attackers!"

Geh!aoa didn't answer. After a moment, she realized that the younger woman was very probably deafened by the stun weapons, and couldn't hear her order.

On Level 3, the diggers and masons were pouring out of their parking area, zipping around in all directions. The invaders used them for target practice. A few security bots followed, and those took two or three shots to dispatch. None of them appeared to have done any harm to the attackers, and Ktheg!lik wondered why Petra had bothered.

Now there were eight enemies on Level 3, and four on Level 2. Two more stood outside the Level 1 entrance, guarding it. "How many of these bastards are there?" Ktheg!lik wondered aloud.

"Twenty-four," Petra replied promptly. Ktheg!lik was startled. I need to know what questions to ask! Petra could do so much more! She was grateful for the uncharacteristic amount of initiative the golem was showing. Some of her makers must have taught her things to do automatically, to fight defensively.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Petra, how many are still in the ship outside?"

"Two."

"Twenty-four invaders in total," Ktheg!lik told the others. "Two on the ship, two at the entrance, twelve inside." Where are the other eight? she wondered. A moment later, she had her answer as the carriage house door blew inward, only one short tunnel away from her position.

Of course they'd come in both entrances! Ktheg!lik was rattled. I should have thought of this. I need more than twenty zegs to learn what to do! she wailed internally. She was frustrated that she was making so many stupid mistakes. Belatedly, she grabbed the glowing air display, and told Petra to show the base and all the invaders. I should have done this at the start! I'd have seen them coming! Then she got up to run, but paused.

Eight blue dots marked invaders just outside the carriage house, and one green dot was inside. As she watched, two of the blue dots entered the carriage house, and then the green dot shot forward, outside, and one of the blue dots vanished. Most of those outside moved a short distance in pursuit. Ktheg!lik switched to a camera to see what was happening.

Odaual was driving the omnibus madly down the hill, almost tipping over. Little flashes started showing up all over it, then intensified. He ran one of them down. He—she saw Odaual slump in the driver's seat, while the omnibus rolled out of control. It hit a rock outcropping and slammed to a halt.

On the glowing air display, the green dot vanished.

Sun burn you bastards!

Almost as if her words had power, the whole base rumbled again, and three of the blue dots on Level 3 abruptly vanished. One of Petra's trap rooms, she realized.

There was too much to keep track of. She realized that invaders were in the tunnel and would be on her in a heartbeat. She started to run, knowing that she was too late.

BOOM!

It wasn't an explosion. It was a sudden, loud sound that cut out sharply, as if someone the size of a god had hit something with a hammer behind her. She couldn't help but turn to look.

The tunnel to the carriage house was gone. Well, almost. There was perhaps a handspan at the bottom remaining. The rest was filled with a single piece of solid stone that must have weighed dozens of garr. Two more of the blue dots had vanished, and another was blinking, unmoving, at the outer edge of the tunnel.

Petra dropped that entire mass as a single block, with only twenty zegs to prepare. She squashed them like bugs. Ktheg!lik would have to think about that, but later—if she survived. The enemy was only one Level above her, so she bolted from the workroom, heading for the stairs down.

She passed Geh!aoa, who was throwing something up the stairs to Level 3. A moment later, she threw another. Ktheg!lik closed her ears tightly over her eyes and ran blind.

Even with a layer of stone between, the glare just from the stairway was blinding, and a moment later, the flash repeated. Ktheg!lik pulled one ear open, and saw Geh!aoa throwing yet another ball upward. That isn't doing any good! You—

A rumbling boom sounded from above, and a moment later, another. Geh!aoa was just standing there, one hand on the nearest wall. She's blind and deaf. They'll kill her in a moment. Ktheg!lik darted back and grabbed the younger woman by the elbow, tapping her twice and yanking.

Geh!aoa dropped something, and Ktheg!lik caught it before it hit the floor. She felt a click as she gripped it.

Oh, dear.

Before she could even decide what to do about that, an invader suddenly appeared right in front of her, having just jumped down the rest of the stairs. It pointed its weapon at her. Instinctively, she held up the hand holding the ball, showing it to the enemy.

The invader stopped short. Then it shot her. Pain bloomed in her chest, and the armored alien dove to one side, trying to put the stone stairway between them. Ktheg!lik couldn't breathe.

She had recent practice doing things while she couldn't breathe.

She threw the sphere at the wall, making it bounce away in the direction the invader had gone. There was another explosion, which she could barely hear. At this point, her sight and hearing weren't much better than Geh!aoa's. Her gaze wobbled and blurred. Maybe we can hide in the pool, she thought woozily, moving forward and dragging her stumbling friend along behind her.

The pool door wouldn't open, but the bathroom door slid open on its own. The two staggered inside, and the door closed behind them. Hide in the shower? Ktheg!lik wondered. She tried to lead Geh!aoa that way, but her body wouldn't respond. She was falling.

Everything went black.

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